


I Still Carry Such a Flame

by werewulfs



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Idk what to tag this as, M/M, au kinda, pretend anything after the ghost riders didnt happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 06:25:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14910053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werewulfs/pseuds/werewulfs
Summary: “Why are you telling me this?”“I’m tired of you smelling like misery. You both deserve a happy ending, and you won’t find that sitting here looking at him through a laptop screen.”





	I Still Carry Such a Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd, oops! I haven't written for this fandom since 2015, and for this ship not at all. Despite that I hope it's okay, drop me a comment or something!

It’s after everything, after every single fucking thing that has happened in that hellmouth of a town, that Stiles leaves. Ducks out of Beacon Hills and hightails it to join the FBI. Scott in the rearview mirror, and the stones in his stomach getting heavier with each mile he puts between them. Knuckles white on the steering wheel, and the radio blaring some jaunty tune that makes him think of said best friend. And maybe he has to pull over a billion times and convince himself to keep driving, convince himself not to go back to the shadows. But he makes it. In the end he finally fucking makes it out.

 

Months go by, a year. Then, when he’s about to celebrate his two year anniversary with the bureau that same jaunty tune comes on. In a coffee shop no less. Stiles jolts so hard that he knocks into the woman waiting behind him who’s barking into her phone like it isn’t ass o’clock in the morning. Luckily he gets off with only a death glare before she forgets about him, and shifts her attention back to her phone. The barista gives him a concerned look from where she’s busy taking a man in a suit’s order, and Stiles gives her an awkward shrug. 

 

Frankly, he knows exactly why the song has this effect on him. It’s Scott, it’s always been, and it always will be. And he knows that there’s a werewolf shaped hole in his heart, and yes he  _ knows  _ he’s absolutely head over heels for his best friend. But it’s been this way since they were young and Stiles discovered that not only was he into guys but he was very into one specific guy. But said guy was very into one girl who ended up dying, then into one girl who ended up leaving the hellmouth. And to top it off said guy had never even implied he was into guys, although there was something about Isaac...which hell, even Stiles had crushed on that were’ a little. But other than that, girls, and no chance for poor ol’ Stiles.

 

Sighing, he slumps over to the counter when the barista calls him over. As if she can read his mind she gives him a sympathetic smile paired with a ‘I know exactly what’s got you in a funk’ look. 

 

“Still haven’t told him?” She asks. Which okay, okay, he does spend a lot of time in this particular coffee shop. And maybe this is where he skypes Scott more often than not, but that’s because it’s got better wifi than his apartment, and awesome paintings.

 

“Uhh.” Stiles says. “Told who what?” 

 

The barista gives him an unimpressed whuff, and a scowl that reminds him so much of Derek that he snorts. 

 

“The boy you’re always video chatting with in here. Your googoo eyes are obvious even from back here.”

 

“Listen-” Stiles glances at her nametag. “Ava, there’s no feelings on his side. We’re best friends and I’m more than happy with that arrangement. In fact I’ve never been happier, I’m living away from all the hell that my old town brings, I’ve got a solid career, I’ve even gone on dates.”

“Lie.” She deadpans.

 

“Which one?”

 

“All of them. Look Stiles, I know who you are. And before you say something I know how creepy that sounds. I’ve met your pack, and I’ve met Scott.”

 

Stiles sighs. Of course he’d run into a werewolf even after leaving what felt like Werewolf Town (trademark). And of course she’s met Scott, and the pack. And of course to top it all off she knows who he is.

 

“How much do you know?” He asks, brutally aware of the abuse shouted at him as the woman and the people behind her leave, too impatient to wait for their coffee. He doesn’t blame them, he just wanted to get his coffee and sit down.

 

“Everything. That’s not the point Stiles, the point is, is that Scott cares about you. You should’ve seen the way his eyes lit up when he talked about you. How you helped him, and gave him answers when nobody else had them. How it physically pained him to see you possessed, and the whole time he forgot you how it was like a piece of him was missing. Should’ve heard him reject me, the sweet look on his face as he politely told me that he had feelings for someone else. You should’ve seen the look that crossed over his face when he admitted that there was nobody else for him but you, Stiles.”

 

He can’t breathe, and he chokes out. “Why are you telling me this?” 

 

“I’m tired of you smelling like misery. You both deserve a happy ending, and you won’t find that sitting here looking at him through a laptop screen.” Maybe she’s right.

 

Stiles opens his mouth to say something back, but it gets caught on the lumps that’s formed in his throat. Luckily his phone’s ringtone blares from where it’s sitting in his pocket. He pulls it out with shaky hands, Scott’s doofy contact picture stares up at him, and with a brief glance at Ava he answers it.

 

“Scott.” He chokes past the lump.

 

“Stiles? Are you okay?” Just hearing the tinny version of Scott’s voice immediately soothes him, and he takes a few deep breaths.

 

“Yeah Scotty, I’m okay. What’s up?” 

 

There’s a self conscious chuckle on the other end before Scott relays that he just wanted to hear his voice. Stiles’ heart thaws just a little bit, and he knows what he has to do.

 

“Listen Scott...I have to go I have something really important that needs my entire concentration, and time. But I’ll give you a call later on, okay?”

 

“Yeah yeah, no problem. Bye Stiles.” The tone of his voice makes him grimace but he brushes it off.

 

“Bye Scotty.”

 

He turns to Ava who has a smug smile on her face, and instead of thanking her he says.

 

“How mad do you think the FBI will be if I quit?”

  
  


***

 

The trip back to Beacon Hills is easier than the trip away. This time he only pulls over once, the anxiety of returning home, and returning to Scott got a little too much. But he kicked the jeep back into gear when he realized that he couldn’t remember the last time Scott smiled so hard his eyes squeezed shut. He’d give anything to see him smile like that again, and maybe he pushed his foot a little harder on the gas.

 

The welcome sign comes and goes. The high school, the tiny strip of shops the old folks call downtown. How own house passes, no car in driveway. He’d told his dad the second he made up his mind that he was coming home, and like a good dad he said nothing except:

 

“I expect to see you home for dinner the day you get back. Bring Scott.”

 

A weight lifts off him at that, like the rocks that had settled in his stomach all those months ago just sort dissolved. And there’s a moment when Stiles is at Scott’s front door waiting for him to answer where he thinks that maybe that little werewolf barista steered him wrong, but it all dissolves when the absolute love of his life is standing right in front of him. 

 

“Stiles.” Scott breathes like he almost can’t believe it, and smiles so hard his eyes squeeze shut. 

 

Something cracks in Stiles’ chest, and spreads this warmth through his body. He knows then that there was nowhere else he belonged. And maybe he’s known since the moment they both tripped, scraped their right knees, and got matching scars all those years ago. Or maybe he didn’t really know until he was staring at their ended skype call six months ago. Or maybe he knows now, the second the warmth spreads to his feet, and they sprout roots that anchor him right here, in this moment. 

 

“Scott.” He replies. “I-”

 

“No,” he says. “I have something to say. Do you remember when your mom died, and I was sitting with you in the hallway? And your dad came out with your mom’s wedding ring in his hand, and you told me that night that you never wanted to get married because it always ends in heartbreak? And I told you that you could just marry me because I already loved you, and I’d follow you anywhere, and there was no chance in hell that I would die and leave you all alone? Then you started crying but you agreed anyways and we made rings out of pipecleaner wires, and my mom told us that we had to wait until we were grownups?”

 

Stiles’ head is spinning but he remembers, he replays that memory all the time. So he says that, and Scott’s eyes go all soft.

 

“I’m not trying to say that we’re going to get married now that we’re all grown up. What I’m trying to say is that I missed you, and I can’t follow you anywhere but I can give you a home here again. And I can give you everything I have because I have adored you since the second we met, and it wasn’t until I saw your jeep fade into the distance that there isn’t a moment that I haven’t been in love with you. I was just too caught up in the newness of the people that loved me, and I forgot about my promise. I hope you can forgive me.”

 

“You love me?” Stiles chokes past a sob building in his throat.

 

“I really, really do.” Scott says, and Stiles pulls him into a kiss.

 

It’s a little salty because of his tears, but Scott’s hands come up to cup his face gently, and the taste fades into the back of his mind. Their noses bump, and Scott releases a breathy giggle, Stiles immediately relaxes more into the kiss, and lets his lips curve up in response. His lips are soft, and he captures Stiles’ bottom lip between both of his where he presses feather light kisses, pulling away until they’re forehead to forehead, and breathing each other’s air. He opens his eyes and looks at the sweep of his best friend’s eyelashes against his cheek, and the way his jaw crooks too far to the right. Scott is absolutely the most beautiful man he’s ever seen, and he brings his hands up to hold the ones on his face.

 

Scott opens his eyes then, and his gaze is so loving that Stiles feels his eyes fill with tears again. But instead of crying he tugs the other man’s hands down and around his waist which pulls them closer together. Chest to chest now, he lifts Scott’s face away from his own and brushes his eyes closed, there he presses a soft kiss to each one. Then he moves to the cheeks, the corners of his lips, and finally his brow. Caressing the growing stubble on Scott’s jaw, he places the lightest of kisses on his lips, and again, and again.

 

“For the record I love you too.”

 

“I’m glad you’re back.” He whispers into the dawn, and Stiles kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> The jaunty tune is Diamond Dave | The Bird and the Bee, which is also what the title is from. If you want you can find me o tumblr @ velvut and twitter @ werewulfs. Thanks for reading!


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